Introduction
I told myself that I needed to calm down before I started writing about racial injustice in America. I told myself I needed to organize my thoughts. Not to be so emotional and passionate about the lives of Black people and the flagrant and barbaric murder of George Floyd. About the countless other injustices that happen every day to Black people in this country. Every day for hundreds of years. And not just by police or the judicial system. But by society. Our society. America. Our police are a reflection of our America.
But then I thought, No! It is not a time to calm down, to wait and see. We should all be outraged and continue to be outraged until true personal and systemic change occurs. How dare I suggest to myself to calm down! That’s the last thing we should all be doing!
Because by our calming down, by discontinuing our Black Lives Matter protests, we give our leaders and lawmakers a pass. Like we’ve done so many, too many times before.
Case in point: School shootings. Most Americans want assault weapons to be outlawed. After each school shooting – and there will be more – a bill is written by the Democrats and subsequently “shot” down by the Republicans. There is no discussion about a compromise. Weeks pass. The American public isn’t as fired up about the issue. The National Rifle Association continues to throw money at Congress, assuring that nothing restricting firearms will ever get passed. Any legislation regarding assault weapons is forgotten…until the next school shooting.
Discrimination, racial injustice, systemic racism, our racist president, how we fund our public schools, what we’re teaching our children, resources available to our youth, “red-lining”: all these topics and more, require investigation, dialog, and solutions by greater minds than mine. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit quietly and wait for results. I am going to further educate myself on racism in America and hopefully enlighten others. I’m going to try to put in my two cents whenever I find an opportunity. I hope you will do the same.
I’m a White person. I don’t live with the prejudice, injustice and persecution that my Black brothers and sisters have been subjected to for over four centuries. But I’m angry. At myself for not recognizing how racism has continued in our society for all this time. For too long, I haven’t understood that my America was so different than the America Black people know. This is not the America I want to live in. Not yet. It’s time to correct some wrongs, atone for our country’s mistakes, and create the best America for everyone.
That is the most beautiful narrative I have read Jill. Not only are you a fantastic writer you are a truly compassionate and passionate person. What a wonderful well written documentary. And in my humble opinion it is all so heatbreakenly true. Thank you!
Jill, thank you for these words. You are so articulate and to the point. We all do need to educate ourselves and do whatever we can to help make America a better place for Black Americans.
Thanks for putting so clearly my own thoughts on this issue. I feel equally angered and done with the way our government is behaving and what it has allowed. Enough is enough. Keep writing Jill!
Amen
Amen to all of that Jill….it has been hard once again living through the devastation of the 60’s and the racial discrimination I grew up witnessing. I had a grandmother, born in the 1890’s who was a very prejudiced person. She only went to 3rd grade and grew up during the time period of the Jim Crow laws, poll taxes and fierce discrimination and recriminations against Blacks in America. As a college freshman, I had the opportunity to travel to Louisiana for census taking and religious training for some young children. I went to a Catholic college in NY and this was a summer mission experience. i’ll never forget witnessing first hand the separate water fountains, waiting areas in the bus stations and separate entrances and exits for the department stories….I was never the same!!